We Made it Home!

WHERE ARE WE? Rivers Provincial Park, Rivers Manitoba (Home)

We got up this morning with a purpose in mind.  Today will take us "Home".  We spent a good night in a truck stop in Minot, but not many trucks were coming and going so we slept good.  

Dani is having trouble getting used to the cooler weather and loves a blanket by the fire.

And the last town in the USA is Dunseith ND.  

And then we pulled up to the border.  Remember we have 4 people and 2 motorhomes, one of which needs to be exported from the USA first.  I took this picture at 11:27 am.  

We stopped at the US customs and I took the paperwork inside.  The gentleman there was impressed that everything was in order and after a quick physical check of the VIN number he stamped the export papers and we moved on to the Canadian Customs.  Sheri and I were in the Ponderosa and went first. After about 5 minutes questions and chatting I told them I was also importing the motorhome that was behind me.  She got us to pull ahead and I went back to the office with the export papers and our import stuff.  The lady at customs was super and told me that the smartest thing I did was to hire a broker.  She looked at the paperwork and scanned the barcode and stamped everything and we were done.  Percy is now Canadian.  As we pulled away from customs I looked at the clock and it was 12:07.  It took us 40 minutes total to clear customs and import a motorhome.  Probably 20 minutes of the 40 were spent just chatting.  She told stories of her husband sneaking beer across the boarder.  LOL.  We have had nothing but good interactions at any borders we cross.  I can't figure out how some people have such difficult times.  Be honest and respectful and you will have no problems.  Anyway off we went on the final leg of our journey.

We arrived home at Rivers Provincial Park at about 3 pm.  I always laugh at the new sign they have.  It looks like a clock and the hands are saying it is 20 to 7.  So I now call it 20 to 7 park!!!

Then we got to the park and it said that the campground is closed.  Oh Oh. LOL  Its not closed for us.

We just parked in the parking lot until we figure out if our campsite is dry enough to get into.  We are not in a hurry because we don't want to cut up the grass because its too muddy.

We've had an awesome winter but are glad to be home.  It has been fun having Sheri and Dani with us for the last 5 weeks or so and I think they enjoyed it too.  We will be opening Cj's this weekend for firewood and maybe some ice cream if we are lucky but we have a lot of work to do.  First we need to catch up with all the rest of the kids and grandkids.  First to show up were grandkids Max and Grace and they were hungry!! 

Our daughter Kaitlyn joined us for supper and told us that she just got a huge promotion at work.  We are proud of her.  

Come to think of it, we are proud of all our kids!!  Let me tell you why!  Nicole has continued to be a professional mom and community person in the last 10 months since we lost Derek.  Its been tough for her but she is a trooper.  He definitely made her smile.  We watch her nurture her kids every day and be a huge support to others suffering losses in their families, as well as being involved in her community.  We are very proud of her.  

And after running "Cj's on Ice" all winter, Sheri will be starting a new Cj's restaurant in Hamiota called "Cj's on the Links".  She signs the contract tomorrow and will be busy all summer building her new business along with helping us with Cj's Snack Shack.  Dani will be helping her as much as she can this summer.  We are proud of her and the fact that she is moving the Cj's name along.   

Karalee started a new career with Manitoba Highways last year.  She drove a snowplow last winter on the highways and will be operating loader and hopefully grader soon.  I hold a special interest in her career because I was an equipment operator for much of my life.  I sure wish Derek was around to mentor her, but I think he is still some of her inspiration.  

Karalee and Sully

view out the window of snow off the wing!

And our adopted daughter Kenia is just a natural born entrepreneur and has just expanded her Cafecito to include morning coffee and waffles!! She has a new helper as well by the name of Osiris who is actually her room mate!  Way to go Kenia!!!

And now our grandkids are making their way in life as well.  Donovan is in Alberta and has started a new job on the rigs.  It will be interesting to start seeing the career paths the grandkids start to take.  Good job Donovan!!!

There comes a time to sink or swim and he swam

So it is good to be home where we are closer to our family and our life long friends.  Family is important to us and we love every one of them.  We will be busy this summer, but we will always be smiling.  This was our final leg of our north trip today.  Good Nite!!